# Support and Resistance for Beginners > Support and resistance are the foundation of technical analysis in forex. Here is a clear explanation of what they are and how to use them. **Tags:** support-resistance, forex-basics, price-levels, technical-analysis **URL:** https://traderjournal.app/forex-basics/support-and-resistance-for-beginners --- # Support and Resistance for Beginners Support and resistance levels are the foundation of most technical trading approaches. Understanding what they are and why they work helps you make better decisions about where to enter, where to exit, and where to place your stop loss. --- ## What Is Support Support is a price level where buying pressure has historically been strong enough to stop price from falling further. When price falls to a support level, buyers step in. This demand creates a floor that price bounces from. The more times price has tested this level and bounced, the more significant the support is considered. Imagine a level at 1.0800 on EUR/USD. Price fell to 1.0800 in March and bounced. Price fell to 1.0800 again in June and bounced again. In September, when price falls toward 1.0800, many traders recognize this as a significant support level and enter long positions - creating the buying pressure that causes the bounce to repeat. --- ## What Is Resistance Resistance is a price level where selling pressure has historically been strong enough to stop price from rising further. When price rises to a resistance level, sellers step in. This supply creates a ceiling that price struggles to break through. --- ## Support and Resistance Role Reversal One of the most useful properties of support and resistance: when a support level is broken, it often becomes resistance. When a resistance level is broken, it often becomes support. If EUR/USD has been supported at 1.0800 for months and finally breaks below it, that 1.0800 level often becomes resistance on subsequent rallies. Traders who bought at 1.0800 support are now underwater and want to exit at breakeven (near 1.0800), creating selling pressure when price approaches the level from below. This role reversal is the basis for many breakout-retest trading strategies. --- ## How to Identify Support and Resistance **Prior swing highs and lows:** Places where price previously turned are the most commonly used support and resistance levels. **Round numbers:** Psychological levels like 1.1000, 1.0500, 150.00 (USDJPY) tend to act as support/resistance due to the clustering of orders around clean, memorable numbers. **Previous day/week/month highs and lows:** Many institutional traders reference these levels. The prior week's high and low are particularly watched. **Moving averages:** Dynamic support/resistance that moves with price. The 20, 50, and 200 period MAs are the most commonly referenced. --- ## Using Support and Resistance in Your Journal Log the specific level you were trading on each entry. Over time, your journal data will show whether certain types of levels (prior swing highs, round numbers, MA confluences) produce better results than others in your trading. Download Trader Journal at android.traderjournal.app or ios.traderjournal.app.